Civil engineer Victor Tapia recently deployed with RedR Australia to the Greek Island of Samos where he is working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to support the tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving by boat from Turkey.
Victor fled Chile and the brutal Pinochet regime in the 1970s so he has a lot of empathy for the refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I didn’t consider myself as a refugee even though I could have qualified as one,” Victor said reflecting on his migration to Australia.
““I did civil engineering work with the public works department in Chile and we used explosives for our work and I had to teach people how to use explosives,” he said.
“When the military coup took place, I was working with the auditor general. I was taken into custody and released but warned that my name was coming up during interviews with other people taken into custody. Shortly after that, I Ieft the country and migrated to Australia.”
Thousands of people “disappeared” under the Pinochet regime and, despite returning to visit Chile recently, Victor says he has never been able to trace 10 of his 12 graduating classmates.
Up to 2000 asylum seekers arrive on the island of Samos by boat every day. The UNHCR is working closely with the Greek government on new accommodation options for the huge number of asylum seekers and Victor’s expertise as a site planner for refugee and transit camps is in demand.
Victor spent more than 30 years working with Sydney Water before retiring in 2007 and joining RedR Australia’s register of experts ready to deploy to international humanitarian crises. Since then, he’s worked as a site planner on refugee camps in Uganda, Ghana and Ethiopia.
“My own experience gives me a better understanding of people fleeing their country. I understand their plight and fear and what made them leave the place and what it’s like having to go to a place with the fear of the unknown,” Victor said.
“I came to a place where I didn’t know anybody or speak the language. I would be in the street wondering what I will do next and how I will establish myself.”
Engineers Australia was one of the founding partners of RedR Australia, a leading humanitarian agency for international emergency relief. This Friday 5th February is their major annual fundraising event Wear Red for RedR Day. If you would like to support their work and make a donation or find out how you can participate in this global event, go to their website at www.redr.org.au.
The Engineers Australia WA Division will be collecting gold coin donations at the NER Update event on Tueday, 23 February 2016. This breifing session is open to the public but registration is essential.